IPL 2026 Auction LIVE Streaming: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini-auction is set to be conducted on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
This one-day event lets the 10 franchises fill their remaining squad slots from a shortlist of 369 players. Kolkata Knight Riders head into the auction with the biggest purse.
IPL 2026 Auction Date, Time, and Venue
It starts at 2:30 PM IST (1:00 PM local UAE time). Unlike multi-day mega-auctions, this is a single-day affair-the third straight year outside India, following Dubai (2024) and Jeddah (2025).
Auction Structure and Sessions
Players are grouped into sets: capped batters, all-rounders, wicketkeepers, pacers, spinners, uncapped, and overseas. Bidding kicks off with marquee high-base-price players, then moves set by set. It shifts to an accelerated
phase for lower-base-price players at the end. No Right to Match (RTM) cards apply.
IPL 2026 Auction Breaks, Session Timings
Expect a short mid-session break after several sets and a longer dinner break midway-typically 15-45 minutes each, based on pace (exact times aren't pre-announced). The event should wrap by late evening IST, though hot bidding could extend it.
To sustain energy during the marathon, the IPL incorporates protocol-driven breaks, mirroring past mini-auctions. Although the exact timing may vary, we can expect a number of breaks across different junctures.
Mini Breaks: It can happen after Set 1, Set 5 - Set 1 concludes the big marquee names, while Set 5 will conclude the top-rated capped players.
Mid-Session Break: Around the 70th player (approx. 5:30-6:00 PM IST, 15-20 minutes), transitioning to the accelerated round for team regrouping.
Dinner Break: After 120-140 players (approx. 7:30-8:00 PM IST, 45 mins to 1 hour). Post the dinner break, the franchises may have the chance to bring back unsold players in the fray again.
Final Break: It can be a small break to give the franchises a second round of bringing back unsold players if the quota is not completed. This can be a mini break of around 10-15 minutes.
IPL 2026 Auction Live Streaming and Telecast in India
The IPL 2026 mini auction will telecast on the Star Sports network from 2:30 PM IST in India on Tuesday. The live-streaming of the auction is available on the Jio Hotstar app and website.
